Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity
Chapter 332: Sister-Swap Play
"Teacher Shion should only have one student, and that's me!"
"Where did you come from, you liar? Get away from Teacher Shion right now! Even I've never hugged Teacher Shion!"
Black Keke turned around, looking at the other self charging toward her, a subtle change flickering across her face.
But quickly, a sneer spread across Black Keke's swollen, pig-face-like visage as she tightly hugged Shion.
"Is that how Teacher Shion treats you? It's not like that with me. If you've got the guts, follow me and see for yourself!"
It really was different, after all, Shion had never beaten Keke into a pig-face before...
Black Keke just taunted her for a moment before immediately grabbing Shion and vanishing from the street in the blink of an eye.
Shion didn't stop her, either. After all, Black Keke had touched on something that interested her.
After cleaning up the Incubators on the second floor, she had chased the remaining ones down to the first floor—extending the utmost hospitality, warmly entertaining those Incubators that hadn't been caught yet.
And the battle on the second floor had basically no impact on the first. Hardly anyone down there knew what had happened upstairs.
After all, now that Shion had stepped into Full Bloom, a casual strike of hers, in terms of combat power, could blow up the universe.
Every move she made in Chongxu could easily destroy the place.
But she had Perfect Realm.
Even if it was like a giant squeezing into an anthill, Shion could still perfectly control her power.
Precisely targeting and eliminating all Incubators point-to-point, without affecting a single hair of Chongxu.
While grand, sweeping movements carried the majesty of heaven, insight into the subtle and minute better revealed the naturalness of the Dao.
This ability to handle heavy matters with lightness, to see the great through the small, the only flaw of Perfect Realm was that ordinary people couldn't detect the earth-shattering skill within it at all.
Only Black Keke, who was right beside her, could understand just how much gold there was in it.
So, in reality, after Shion finished clearing the Incubators on the second floor, not many people even noticed what had happened.
Keke was still immersed in the danger of Teacher Shion flattening that Lu Ya AI or whatever; she figured Shion had probably returned to Beihai—she never imagined Teacher Shion would come back, nor did she sense Teacher Shion's aura.
After all, Shion was still deliberately hiding her presence.
This made suddenly running into her teacher a bit of a shock for Keke.
She only had time to yell a single rebuke before her other self grabbed the teacher and bolted off in a flash!
Of course, she wasn't going to just give up like that. She immediately turned to look at Silver Lotus and White Fox. "We have to catch up right now!"
Silver Lotus immediately nodded.
White Fox hesitated for a moment, glancing in Shion's direction—even though the other woman hadn't paid her any attention and probably hadn't even noticed her, the Full Bloom Magical Girl who had fought her back in Beihai.
But now, unable to transform, White Fox still felt a flicker of fear.
Yet, looking at the anxious Keke, she still reached out and grabbed her sister's hand. "Yeah, let's chase."
Keke was Sir's little sister, and also White Fox's friend.
She had to help her friend.
The three of them sprinted off, chasing after Shion and Black Keke.
As they ran, Silver Lotus naturally noticed something, too.
That girl really did look exactly like Keke.
So, she couldn't help but mutter quietly:
"It's not like he's dissatisfied with Keke and found a look-alike replacement, is it..."
Keke sped up, glaring fiercely back at her friend. "No way!"
"Rather than a replacement," White Fox said woodenly, "wouldn't having both students together be better?"
"Who wants to share Teacher with another me!"
Even as she said that, Keke felt a little uneasy, uncertain inside.
Had Teacher, maybe, really been disappointed in her?
She thought it over, but her recent performance hadn't been that bad, had it?
She'd basically mastered the method for Full Bloom. Although the crude Dream Core Full Bloom method wasn't stable enough yet, it was clearly safer than the ancient Full Bloom method. In terms of achievements, she'd also successfully killed that witch who was imitating Teacher Shion.
She couldn't figure out what Teacher Shion could possibly be dissatisfied with her about...
Having just regained a bit of confidence, Keke felt slightly crushed again, a little tempted to retreat into herself.
Then, in the midst of the chase, a thought suddenly struck her.
Could it be because of big brother?
If Teacher Shion had any complaints about her, it would probably only be about big brother...
Hesitating in her heart, her chasing speed slowed a bit, and she almost didn't want to keep going.
But then Silver Lotus and White Fox grabbed her directly and sped up!
"Don't give up, Keke!"
"We'll help you!"
Don't suddenly get that sense of mission at a time like this!
Carried along by them, Keke could only follow along for the ride.
The surrounding Chongxu residents, who had been hiding far away from Shion earlier, immediately swarmed back to ask for autographs when they saw Keke, the savior of Chongxu, appear. This forced the three of them to unavoidably slow down.
"I got it, an autograph from Magical Girl Ruri! Such ugly handwriting..."
"I'm in a hurry, you know! Give it back if you don't want it!"
"It's fine, ugly autographs are still valuable!"
"Damn, just a profiteer..."
Keke felt a little hurt; she'd thought she was actually pretty popular.
In reality, facing three girls who hadn't even transformed, Shion and Black Keke could have easily shaken them off.
But Black Keke deliberately kept an ambiguous distance, letting them see her but never quite catch up.
"Oh, look at how frantic she is."
Black Keke let out a scornful "heh heh" laugh. "So stupid, right? Having a big brother, having family, a child never grows up."
"Keke has already grown up."
Unexpectedly, Shion actually contradicted her. "She's just practicing the Inverse Life Triple Focus."
Black Keke was obviously a bit confused. "What the hell is Inverse Life Triple Focus?"
"A technique that causes reverse aging, granting immortality... That's why her power advances while her mentality regresses."
She sure knew a lot of weird, obscure things.
But they didn't continue on that topic. Instead, while cheerfully taunting the three girls behind them, she continued, "You've been with Jiang Si for a long time. What do you think of his relationship with Keke?"
"It's good."
"Hmm... I thought they might not get along."
"Why?"
"Because if it were me, I probably wouldn't get along with that guy." Black Keke said it as a matter of course. "Look at him—womanizing, cold, short, and pretentious. He's connected to Saint Hall, Azure Cloud, and the Witch Association. He's really not a good guy, is he?"
Suddenly sensing the murderous aura from beside her, Black Keke's heart skipped a beat.
She had been saying this, thinking she was following Shion's apparent dislike for Jiang Si, but she hadn't expected to actually anger her instead...
The heart of a sovereign is hard to gauge!
Thinking this, Black Keke immediately tactfully changed the subject. "Of course, he has his strengths too, like being good at fighting, being good at fighting, and... being good at..."
After racking her brain and only coming up with that one, even Black Keke couldn't keep a straight face after saying it.
"Big brother has tons of strengths!"
The three girls behind them caught up, with Keke taking the lead to refute.
Silver Lotus immediately nodded along. "Yeah, yeah, Jiang Si has tons of strengths."
White Fox also said softly, "Don't slander Sir."
So Black Keke turned around and made a face. "Pfft, I can't see any strengths. Since you say there are so many, why don't you tell me what they are?"
The three girls suddenly fell silent.
Then, Keke spoke up, sounding a bit uncertain: "Like, for example, he can fight?"
Silver Lotus immediately tugged on her friend. "Didn't she already say that?"
Keke scratched her head as she ran. "Well, I can't think of any others right now..."
"What about being handsome?"
"Is that even a strength?"
White Fox couldn't stand it anymore either. "Sir is very knowledgeable."
Keke was silent for a moment before muttering quietly, "Big brother hardly reads anything except web novels, you know..."
"Keke!" Silver Lotus grabbed her mouth from the side. "How can you keep undermining your own teammate right now! You useless teammate!"
"Sorry!"
Seeing the three of them immediately fall into disarray, Black Keke laughed heartily. "Oh my, can't even name a single one, yet you have the nerve to argue back. Idiots, idiots, useless waste only good for clinging to your friends!"
"Gah." Seeing the other two were hopeless, Silver Lotus had to step up herself. "Jiang Si really cares for his family. For example, he dotes on Keke a lot."
Keke: "Uh, well, big brother and I have reconciled, but that one's still a bit of a stretch..."
"Considerate to his subordinates."
Black Keke: "The kind of consideration that left Xilan stranded in Spatial Turbulence without a care?"
"My sister thinks highly of him!"
Keke and Black Keke: "Is that even a strength?"
Silver Lotus furiously pinched Keke's ear again. "What exactly do you want from me?!"
"Sorry, sorry, it was instinct..."
Watching their intimate interaction, Black Keke paused, then muttered softly, "Idiots."
Even as she said this, she hugged Teacher Shion again, this time pressing even closer.
Keke instantly panicked and transformed. "Let go!"
Great Barren Imprisoning Heaven Finger was pressed down directly.
Silver Lotus jumped in fright. "Wait, wait, Shion is right there!" Beside her, White Fox immediately roared, "It's fine, let's all attack together! I'll help too!"
With that, she immediately burst forth with Blue Silver Grass and charged at Shion and Black Keke!
"You're just settling a personal score!" Silver Lotus blocked White Fox with one hand and Keke with the other. "Wait, wait, calm down! Aaah, damn it! Calm down!"
With a loud shout, Silver Lotus exploded forth with a waterfall of pink petals, instantly drowning Keke's Great Barren Imprisoning Heaven Finger and White Fox's Blue Silver Grass!
She actually managed to stop them both.
Black Keke stared at Silver Lotus for a long moment before chuckling. "You're still such an idiot. Ah, forget it, I'm done messing with you guys. Bye-bye~"
Then she turned to Shion and said, "Teacher Shion, Teacher Shion, come back to Beihai with me, okay? I kind of miss everyone. Let's go back to Beihai together!"
"Stop right there—!"
Before she could finish, a cluster of flames enveloped Black Keke and Shion. As the flames gradually extinguished, the two of them had simply vanished.
Keke and the other two were stunned. They searched everywhere but couldn't find them. Keke gritted her teeth, her face full of killing intent. "I'll let you go back to Beihai! I'll let you say 'okay'!"
She pulled out her Dream Core again, and a terrifying force erupted!
Silver Lotus's pupils contracted. "Wait, what are you doing..."
"Full Bloom!"
"It's really not that serious!"
An Shiyu sat on the roof outside the Disaster Control Bureau, staring at the sky with a somewhat forlorn look.
"Don't worry about it. It's not like they're actually getting married. We still have plenty of chances. If we want to wear wedding dresses, we can buy our own. And with our abilities, we can hide a wedding dress and, the next time we're alone with Jiang Si, just change into it. We won't be any worse off than them!"
Earlier, when she'd parted ways with the Azure Cloud Sect, An Shiyu had naturally heard that Bingtang planned to be a bridesmaid and Jiang Si a groomsman at some relative of Bingtang's wedding.
She'd heard they'd be wearing wedding attire, which had made An Shiyu incredibly envious.
After coming back, thinking she might not get that chance, she couldn't help feeling a little down, so she'd come out here to sit and mope.
"No matter how melancholic a look you put on, Jiang Si won't notice you anyway. Instead of wallowing, perk up. Use our own methods to carve out our own place in the world!"
"Senior Mujin is an idiot."
"Hey, hey, hey, why are you suddenly insulting people?"
"You don't understand anything."
"How don't I understand? I've had more romantic partners than you've had relationships!"
"What's there to be proud of about that..." An Shiyu cupped her cheeks, staring at the sky, and murmured softly to herself, "It's not about self-amusement. What matters is that they can walk with Jiang Si, wearing wedding dresses, under everyone's gaze. It's... just like a real wedding."
"It's not real anyway. We can wear one and take a picture with Jiang Si, too."
"Gaining recognition from others versus self-amusement—there's a huge difference, you idiot, Mujin."
"I'm not trying to be mean, Xiao An, but lately, I've noticed you're getting more and more disrespectful. Is this any way to talk to a senior? Can't you show me a little respect..."
"But whenever I try to respect you, you open your mouth."
"Well, it's not like you can tell me to shut up!"
Mujin kept on chattering. "If you care about it that much, then we'll just put on a big show later. Let a lot of people watch..."
"That would just be embarrassing. What matters is recognition, acknowledgment!"
"You're so troublesome."
"You're so stupid."
The two bickered as usual. Just as An Shiyu was thinking about whether she could crash the wedding, she seemed to sense something and suddenly jerked her head up.
A beam of light descended.
The two of them appeared right in front of the Bureau's main entrance.
An Shiyu stood up and looked closely, only to see it was Keke and Shion.
"? Keke, Shion, what are you two doing here all of a sudden..."
Keke had resigned from the Bureau, and Silver Lotus had gone to find her. An Shiyu had heard from the Azure Cloud Sect that they'd gone to Upper Realms' Chongxu.
She hadn't expected them to come back with Shion.
Shion, however, didn't look at her. Her gaze seemed to be fixed on something far away, as if lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Keke looked at her with a touch of nostalgia. "Long time no see, Xiao An."
An Shiyu was stunned for a moment. The tone and attitude were a bit different, but the voice and appearance, even the mana, were exactly the same.
"It hasn't been that long..." she replied, then glanced at Shion, wondering if Jiang Si had come clean with Keke yet.
Either way, she wasn't about to stick her nose in where it didn't belong. "Why are you suddenly back?"
Keke was silent for a moment, clutching Shion's hand, before finally breaking into a smile. Her tone suddenly shifted back to one An Shiyu was more familiar with. "Just kind of missing everyone."
The words were spoken with such heartfelt sincerity that, for a moment, An Shiyu forgot to ask any questions, even forgot to be suspicious. She just laughed and said, "You've only been gone for a few days, and you're already getting homesick. You should have just not left in the first place."
After saying that, she added, "Everyone misses you, too. The Director even cried, said it was rare for our Bureau to produce a Magical Girl who could match the Azure Cloud Sect, and then she went and ran away..."
"Heh." Keke let out a faint laugh before continuing, "It's really been a long, long time. But Xiao An is still the same as always."
"It's only been a few days..." An Shiyu muttered in reply, a little puzzled. How did Keke suddenly start sounding like Senior Mujin, all ancient and full of the weight of years...
"Say hi to Senior Mujin for me."
"Oh... huh?" Both An Shiyu and Mujin were stunned.
How could Keke possibly know about that?
"And also, don't self-destruct anymore, Senior Mujin. Not even leaving a last word before blowing yourself up was really too much."
"Huh?!"
Before the two of them could react, Keke was already pulling Shion into the Bureau.
An Shiyu and Mujin exchanged a look. "What the hell is she talking about?"
"And why hasn't Shion said a single word..."
While the two of them were still baffled.
Three more beams of light flew in one after another.
"Xiao An!"
An Shiyu happily raised her hand, looking at the incoming Silver Lotus, White Fox, and then...
Keke?
An Shiyu immediately rubbed her eyes and looked again, then turned back to look at the Bureau. She was completely lost.
"Two Kekes?"
"Xiao An, did you see Shion bringing a Keke in here?"
Xiao An just pointed inside numbly, "They went in..."
The three of them charged right past her, even shouting, "Chase them!"
"Time for some fun!"
Before An Shiyu could come back to her senses, Mujin was already yelling, "Come on, come on, let's go, Xiao An! Let's go join the fun!"
Black Keke felt a slight headache coming on, but still, urged on by Shion's junior, she turned around and followed these eight people into the Bureau.
In her heart, she was considering whether to contact the Azure Cloud Sect.
---
Peony and Susan exchanged a glance, looking at the gift Keke was holding out to them.
And at Shion standing beside Keke.
Both of them were at a bit of a loss.
Especially being stared at by Shion, they didn't dare move an inch.
"These are the gifts you've been clamoring for all this time."
Peony and Susan both looked down and realized the gifts Keke had brought were quite meaningful.
For Susan, it was a ticket to an amusement park. In Peony's hand was an official leave slip from the Bureau, paid leave.
"Back when we were fighting Disaster Beasts, Senior Susan always said she wanted to visit an amusement park, but never got the chance. I've always felt a bit bad about that. This time, Senior Susan, if you get a chance, go to the amusement park and take a look, okay?"
Although Susan was a bit confused, wondering why Keke was suddenly being so friendly.
But with this kind of good fortune...
She glanced at Shion beside Keke, then said, "Come play with us, Keke."
"If I have time."
"Yeah, bring Jiang Si along."
"Ahaha, I'm not that close with him. I'm afraid I can't invite Jiang Si for you."
While Keke was subtly declining Susan's invitation, Peony immediately lunged forward for a hug.
Then she rubbed her face against Keke's. "Keke, you're so good to me! Want to take leave together? I'll split half my paid leave salary with you!"
"Better not. Senior Peony, you love to slack off too much. Hanging out with you is boring. Every day, it's just sleeping or watching dramas. There's no fun in it."
"For Keke, I'm willing to go shopping with you!"
"Haha..."
Keke let out a laugh, and then, for some reason, her expression suddenly became tinged with sadness.
A barely hidden bitterness leaked from her eyes. She let go of Shion's hand and hugged Peony instead. "Of course. If I have time, I'll definitely go with you. Senior Peony, if you want to slack off, go ahead and slack off. But don't come running to the Bureau the second you hear an alarm. Didn't you say a long time ago that you didn't want to be a Magical Girl anymore? Why do you have to work so hard?"
"I haven't been working that hard, have I?"
Peony was completely bewildered. "What are you talking about, silly girl? When did I ever say I didn't want to be a Magical Girl? And I only slack off within reasonable limits. I haven't violated any Bureau rules. Don't slander me like that. If the Director docks my pay, you're making it up to me."
"I know, I know. If your pay gets docked, I'll definitely make it up to you."
Sensing that something was wrong, Susan looked up at their Sect Master.
The Sect Master was standing there like a puppet, showing no intention of speaking. For the time being, she could only stay silent.
Keke walked around the Bureau, a look of nostalgia and intoxication on her face.
For a moment, no one in the entire Bureau spoke.
Just as Peony was giving Susan a signal to go out and get the Director and the others to come see what was going on.
She felt Keke had been possessed or something, and wondered if they should call the Azure Cloud Sect to take a look.
The conference room door was suddenly kicked open.
Keke, Silver Lotus, and White Fox filed in, and soon after, An Shiyu walked in as well.
"Don't think you can escape!"
"I want to escape. You can't catch me, believe me?"
Susan and Peony looked at each other, watching the two Kekes argue. They didn't dare keep holding the gifts, but they didn't dare put them down either. They just set them on the table.
Just kidding, if the real Keke complained to the Azure Cloud Sect.
They'd be in for it!
The two of them immediately ducked over to An Shiyu's side.
"What's going on?"
"How are there two Kekes?"
"I don't know either..."
"We've always been Keke's most reliable seniors. We only support Keke."
"Right, right. We definitely haven't been tricked into siding against Keke..."
Watching these two familiar sycophants, both Keke and Black Keke couldn't help but laugh.
Then, Keke immediately felt annoyed and glared fiercely at them.
Black Keke didn't care. She thought for a moment, then sat down on the table and casually pressed a button. A screen slowly descended on the wall. "I'm Keke from another world. Anyway, you can call me Black Keke, or else—"
"—the Dark Ruri of Night! Glacial Black Glass Keke!"
Keke froze, noticing the weird looks on everyone's faces, and couldn't help but feel her cheeks burn.
Then Black Keke added, "I'm Shion's little sister."
"No, you're not!"
Everyone else exchanged bewildered looks. For a moment, they didn't know whether to believe her or not.
"Another world?" Mujin couldn't hold back and spoke up first. "I've seen plenty of clones. I hate this kind of thing the most! Like those Aliens, Prime Aliens, Sugar Monsters, Alices, and all that!"
"Right, right." With a veteran speaking up, the others immediately chimed in. "It's probably another Alice. That Alice Yueji incident is still fresh in our minds..."
When the Mirror Kingdom was wiped out by the Azure Cloud Sect, the news of Yueji's death from the Beihai Bureau had saddened everyone for a while.
But since it was an Alice from the Mirror Kingdom, no one felt they could say much.
Now, seeing another one, they were naturally all outraged.
Just as Black Keke was getting flustered.
"She is Keke."
The moment Shion spoke, everyone immediately shut up and fell silent.
Ten thousand pieces of evidence were nothing compared to a single word from Shion...
Black Keke felt a wave of emotion. Did these people really trust Shion that much?
Then, looking at the resentful Keke, she chuckled again. "As Teacher Shion said, I really am Keke. No need to doubt. The Beihai Disaster Control Bureau's genius rookie, everyone's hope, Magical Girl Ruri!"
Keke didn't hesitate and moved to attack again!
The power of her Dream Core Full Bloom made her unafraid of this liar pretending to be her.
But before she could move, her shoulder suddenly sank.
Keke turned her head and saw that Teacher Shion, who hadn't moved at all until now, had actually acted!
She had pressed down on her shoulder, dispelling the mana she had just gathered, and even made Keke feel a little dizzy.
Then, Shion said calmly, "Let her finish."
This was the reason Shion had let her run wild the whole time.
Kill? She could kill anytime. First, get the information out.
Keke let out an "oh," her face full of grievance.
Her eyes were even a little red.
Here I am, the one who's been with Teacher the longest, and Teacher ignores me for someone she just met!
She had been working so hard to build a good relationship with Teacher Shion, training diligently, trying to earn Teacher's approval.
It felt like all that effort had just been handed over to someone else on a silver platter!
She could easily gain Teacher's trust, and it was only because she was wearing my face—if it weren't for the relationship I'd built with Teacher over so long, Teacher wouldn't care what she had to say!
Just thinking about it, the thought, "Why? That favoritism and affection are supposed to be just for me," kept bubbling up uncontrollably.
Could a fake really be more important than the real thing?
Teacher actually got mad at me for a counterfeit. I can't be angry at Teacher, but Keke poured double the grievance and anger onto Black Keke.
She would never forgive her!
The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt.
Silver Lotus naturally noticed her friend's distress and tugged at Shion. "Don't be like that. It'll hurt Keke."
She let Shion release her grip and immediately hugged Keke. "It's okay, Keke. Shion just wants to get some information out of her. She doesn't really think that fake is more important than you."
Keke sniffled, buried her face in Silver Lotus's arms, and mumbled a quiet "mmhm."
Then she felt a chill and a sinister stare.
Keke felt a bit strange. She looked up and found that the gaze was coming from Black Keke's eyes across from her.
Black Keke, who had been effortlessly messing with her and even vying for Shion's attention, was now showing an expression of envy and jealousy for the first time.
And there was even a barely concealed unwillingness in it.
Keke was taken aback for a moment. Then, she tentatively snuggled a little closer to Yiyi's embrace. Yiyi just hugged her tighter.
Then Black Keke's look turned murderous.
Keke suddenly got an idea. She turned her left cheek toward Captain Silver Lotus.
"Yiyi, give me a kiss."
Silver Lotus was startled, then just slapped her cheek. "What kind of crazy stunt are you pulling?"
"Kiss me. If you don't, I won't get together with your big brother."
"Pfft, I don't care about that." Even as she said it, Silver Lotus still lowered her head and kissed Keke's soft, pink cheek. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Keke saw Black Keke's gaze grow even colder, even tinged with anger, and she couldn't help but laugh.
That finally felt like getting a bit of payback. Trying to steal Teacher Shion from me—I don't know why, but she seems really invested in Silver Lotus. Since she cares so much, I'll just piss her off, piss her off, piss her off!
Thinking this, she hugged Silver Lotus even tighter.
"What's wrong? Don't you have any friends?"
She taunted back, imitating the other girl's earlier manner.
Black Keke took a deep breath. Surprisingly, she didn't argue. Instead, she nodded. "Yeah, I really don't have any friends left."
White Fox immediately raised her hand. "Jialan says you two are good friends."
"That's what she thinks."
Far away in Chongxu, Jialan sneezed. For the sake of her friend, the President of the Witch Association, she was currently facing a siege from Saint Hall and the Azure Cloud Sect's Harry Potter Branch. But for her friend, she wouldn't take a single step back!
Back in the Beihai Bureau, Black Keke, the President of the Witch Association, just smiled. "After all, Jialan is stupid and easy to use. As long as I call her my friend, I can manipulate her perfectly."
"But, you know, I used to have friends. Lots of them, actually. I was pretty popular, just like you are now."
"Too bad none of them are left."
It looked like she was about to tell a long story.
Shion didn't really feel like listening to her ramble.
She'd just hand it over to The Emperor and Little Black Dragon, and listen to a summary later. It would save time.
Shion had been studying her Time Dao Fruit this whole time.
Which was also why her brain capacity was a bit low and she was getting overloaded.
After all, the Time Dao Fruit was pretty complicated. From what she could tell, based on Lu Ya's method, fusing the heart with the Time Dao Fruit was actually very prone to problems.
Even for her, fusing these two things had taken a lot of effort.
She wondered how Lu Ya and the others had managed to complete the experiment. The precision requirements were just too high.
After that came using the power of the Time Dao Fruit.
She didn't even need much combat experience. Just by using a tiny bit of it, Shion could clearly feel it.
The power of the Time Dao Fruit was a one-time use.
No explanation was needed. Once the heart and the Time Dao Fruit fused, certain rules became easy to understand.
This wasn't really a pure Time Dao Fruit. It was more like a specific opportunity.
Once activated, it would quickly take her to the point in time she wanted to change.
Then, she would have one chance to change the past.
After the change, the Time Dao Fruit would completely disappear.
She had come to these conclusions through careful testing and bold guessing. She didn't know if she was right, but she was probably about eighty or ninety percent sure.
Whether it was the President of the Witch Association, Black Keke, or the scenes she had personally witnessed in the Pseudo-History before.
They all constantly told Shion.
The past cannot be changed. Once it's recorded in the World Tree, there's no possibility of changing it anymore.
And this Dao Fruit was the tool to erase the World Tree's records, giving someone a chance to change the past...
Once she understood this, Shion naturally knew why those Incubators were so desperate to get the Dao Fruit back.
Restarting the feng shui, the power of a Dao Venerable.
True power that could change the past...
If anyone lost a [Divine Providence Fate Book] like this, they'd be frantic.
The only thing left to do was test how far it could go.
To change the past—how far back could it go, and what were the limits of its effect?
Most importantly, there was only one chance.
Shion couldn't help but sigh. It looked like she'd have to use some serious brainpower.
Too bad she couldn't imitate that Dao Venerable and Grand Preceptor and use restarting as a superpower.
She wasn't about to waste this one and only chance by running off to find Lu Ya or messing around with other random stuff.
She had to think carefully. Was this the only chance in her life to achieve the true state of dominating the ages?
A full meal versus many meals; she still knew the difference.
Next was: how many people knew she could use the Time Dao Fruit to change the past?
Without a doubt, the Magic Kingdom and the group of Upper Cultivators from the Incubators wouldn't let her get away with lording it over them.
And even more obviously, with a cheat like this in hand, she absolutely couldn't let anyone know she had the power to restart—unlike a certain petty-minded Azure Cloud Dao Venerable whose final match was an information war over who could restart the most times!
But from the Incubators' attitude earlier, it seemed the Magic Kingdom side hadn't yet learned she had the branch.
That's why the Incubators' Nightwatchmen in Chongxu had been focused on the branch the whole time.
She had to clean up everyone in the know.
Lu Ya and the past sacrifices had worked so hard to create this Dao Fruit for her. She couldn't just lose it like that!
So she looked up at the President of the Witch Association, Black Keke.
How much did she know?
"I had a great relationship with everyone at the Bureau..."
Black Keke spoke, pulling Shion's thoughts back a little. Then, Keke, who was beside her, suddenly chimed in, "But the one you were closest to was Captain Silver Lotus, right?"
Silver Lotus, who was holding Keke, looked a little surprised. "Hey, why drag me into this? I'm not that close with her..."
Before Silver Lotus could finish, Black Keke on the other side directly nodded. "That's right. Yiyi and I were the best of friends. She was the one who invited me into the Bureau. She was the one who helped me grow, who always protected me, encouraged me, and helped me."
Keke immediately nodded along. "That's right. Yiyi is the same for me now."
Silver Lotus was stunned for a moment, then her face reddened a bit. "Wait, wait, I didn't do all that for you. Don't flatter yourself!"
Keke didn't say anything, but Black Keke on the other side just laughed. "Even denying it is exactly the same."
Silver Lotus immediately shut up.
She didn't want to be hated by Keke for responding to Black Keke.
The slightly disgusted reaction made Black Keke wince, an expression of hurt flashing across her face.
"I know it's not the same thing, but seeing you make that face... it's unexpectedly... painful."
Seeing Black Keke's lonely expression, Silver Lotus felt a little at a loss for a moment.
After all, she was also Keke...
Then Keke reached out and covered her eyes. "Just don't look. She knows Yiyi is soft-hearted, so she's pretending to be pitiful to win sympathy!"
"Actually, my heart is made of stone..."
Hearing Silver Lotus's retort, Black Keke couldn't help but laugh. Then she continued, "Yiyi really hasn't changed a bit... Keke, I'm just very envious of you."
"There's no pretending to be pitiful or winning sympathy. Even though Yiyi is no longer the Yiyi I know, I still see her as my dearest friend. My feelings for her haven't changed. I might harm others, but I would never harm Yiyi..."
"Wait." Shion suddenly spoke. "Not long ago, the Beihai Witch Association almost cost Silver Lotus her transformation. It almost killed her. You're not going to tell me the Beihai Witch Association has nothing to do with you?"
"The Witch Association is a franchise system." Black Keke's expression didn't change. "I can't control the people who join. If I had known someone was trying to kill Yiyi, I would have killed them myself."
The corner of Silver Lotus's mouth twitched. "It was my sister."
Black Keke fell silent for a long moment before finally letting out a sigh. "So the same thing happened here?"
"What do you mean?"
"In my world, Yiyi was also harmed by her sister. She lost her Magical Girl powers and almost died. But in the end, Yiyi relied on her determination to save others as a Magical Girl to regain her power."
"And Senior Susan, too."
Suddenly being mentioned, Susan let out a humph, then looked at her Sect Master.
Shion, however, didn't seem surprised.
Whether it was Susan or Silver Lotus, they were both capable of finding their own power. They just needed a little catalyst.
What the Dao Fruit had done back then was just to create that catalyst herself.
So she had never felt she owed those two any favors.
Black Keke continued, "We defeated your sister, Yinluo, together. But in the end, she refused to see reason and was devoured by a Disaster Beast."
Silver Lotus looked a little lost. "There was no way to save her, no matter what?"
Black Keke tried to comfort her. "Don't worry. Not long after, everyone died. So it doesn't matter."
"Is that how you comfort people?" Keke curled her lip. "What exactly are you trying to say? What's your purpose?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I'm not your enemy. In another world, I was your best friend. We fought, grew, laughed, and finally tried to save the world together. Even if we failed, our feelings for each other never changed."
Black Keke got down from the table. If Keke hadn't been blocking her way, she probably would have gone to hug everyone.
"So I came to this world just to save you. I have no other purpose."
"You're only saying this now!"
"Now is the only time I can say it." Black Keke said calmly. "Chongxu has fallen. The Incubators' attention is all on Chongxu now. The Magic Kingdom won't open for a short time. This is the perfect opportunity."
"Listen. Soon, you'll find that everything is about to change."
"The world is heading for its End."
After a pause, Black Keke's lips suddenly stopped moving.
"No matter how much power you have, this is a disaster you cannot overcome. If you do nothing, in the end, you'll end up just like me."
Black Keke stared straight at Keke. "You'll just be forced to watch everyone die. You can't protect anyone."
Keke was startled, because she realized she hadn't heard those words with her ears.
It was the voice of her other self, Witch Keke, that had appeared in her ear when she was in Full Bloom before!
"Now do you believe me?" Black Keke's mouth curved into a smile, but no words came out. Her voice continued to transmit into Keke's mind. "I am you. Our Personal Realities are completely identical. We can even share Magical Girl powers."
Then, Black Keke grinned at everyone and spoke aloud this time. "But as for directly entering the Magic Kingdom or climbing the World Tree, you can't do any of that right now. I'm the only one who knows how to climb the World Tree and how to enter the Magic Kingdom."
Finally, she said, sincerely and seriously, "So, let me replace Keke. Just let me replace Keke and live here in Beihai. I'll give everything I have to help you save the world."
"Fat chance..."
"Fine."
Keke was stunned. Everyone else was shocked too, turning as one to look at Shion, who had been silent all this time.
The young woman who could decide everything nodded casually, sending Keke's heart plummeting into an abyss.
"You'll take Keke's place."